How to be social media savvy if you want to score a top job

It is easy to forget that much of what you do online can be seen by anyone. Which makes it very important to curate your profile with care, says Evie Prosser.

Handle with care. These three words ought to be emblazoned across the top of every social media platform, reminding users of its capacity to self-destruct if used unwisely.

Consider the case of Paris Brown. In 2013, the UK’s first youth police and crime commissioner ignominiously quit her high-profile position in Kent within days of being appointed, because tweets she had posted up to three years before were deemed to be racist and homophobic.

The 17-year-old Miss Brown gave up her £15,000-a-year job amid a flurry of negative publicity, admitting that she had behaved “with bravado” online, and given expression to views that she would not have aired elsewhere.

Herein lies the rub, as Just Recruitment Group Ltd’s, Thomas Wright explains: “For some reason, when people post online, they don’t think the same rules apply as when they are speaking aloud, or writing offline. But if anything, you need to be even more careful about what you publish on the internet, because it’s always there. In many cases, anyone can get hold of it to use against you in future.”